A Spanner In The Works
Posted on June 23, 2016 Leave a Comment
A long day done and wanting to relax, my darling dearest wearily plodded up the stairs to start the relax process by changing into comfy clothes. He works long and hard and I really like to see him chill out in the evenings. However, what greeted him upstairs spurred him into lightening action, bounding down the stairs and calling for reinforcements…
The hot water cylinder had sprung a leak 😦
Helpful son came running.
All the old towels rushed upstairs and onto the floor.
Toolbox scurried through… this is no job for a little 6″ toy. No, sirree! We need a MAN’S spanner. From the bottom of the box they pull out the not often used 15″. Looks of pride filled their faces as they wound it in and out checking it over.
Yes, Sir. This would do the trick!
Running back up to the fount of all trouble, they attacked it together. One holding the flashlight, the other wielding the mighty tool
Eventually we were all smiling. Them with faces beaming with pride at a job well done and an excuse to use that ‘big boy toy’. Me, because there might remain some chance of getting a hot shower after all.
#Grateful for men who love to put a spanner in the works.
Sing, Sing A Song
Posted on June 22, 2016 Leave a Comment
He might be a bolshy little fellow in his bright orange suit of feathers but, oh my, he can sing a great song.
Seems to start with the cover coming off his cage until it goes back on at night. Personally, I LOVE it. My family, however, aren’t quite so thrilled. Perhaps they just don’t like the competition for the airwaves 🙂
He would have made a great addition to the Carpenters band as they sang
Sing out loud
Sing out strong
Sing of good things not bad
Sing of happy not sad.
Sing, sing a song
Make it simple to last
Your whole life long
Don’t worry that it’s not
Good enough for anyone
Else to hear
Just sing, sing a song.
Sing, sing a song
Let the world sing along
Sing of love there could be
Sing for you and for me.
Sing, sing a song
Make it simple to last
Your whole life long
Don’t worry that it’s not
Good enough for anyone
Else to hear
Just sing, sing a song.
Art Trail Taupo 2016
Posted on June 21, 2016 Leave a Comment
It’s been a while since I’ve been sharing my #Grateful posts on here with you all…apologies.
I have been busy doing my first Art Trail exhibition and I have been just a little consumed. (My family think that should read ‘just a LOT consumed’) It’s over now and I have resurfaced for a gulp of air before starting to prepare for the next one in just five more weeks.
On the experience scale, it was up there for me. Such a long time of anticipation and focus, especially as I was starting from scratch with no body of work behind me. Paintings planned and completed, sealing, framing, hanging, photography done, and then just when you thought you were almost finished came artist bio’s, price lists, painting blurbs, etc. The list seemed never ending. But with a wonderful family team we made it…PHEW!
I am telling myself that the next one for Taupo Winter Festival on July 16-17,should be much easier . Here’s hoping anyway 🙂
#Grateful for the whole experience of the Art Trail Taupo 2016, but delighted to be back and breathing.
Fejoa Delight
Posted on April 27, 2016 Leave a Comment
Yay! It’s that time of the year again.
I LOVE Fejoa season.
Super grateful for this special fruit.
Not quite sure why I love them so much…
maybe, memories of creeping up the back fence and hiding low so the neighbour couldn’t see us kids out his lounge window as we nicked the fruit from his tree just over the fence. They were BIG ones and well worth the telling off if we got caught.All that Adrenalin mixed with deliciousness might have done it.
And, of course, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Our 15 years living in the tropics where they would fly them in and charge us over $1 for each one while we watched our friends on facebook eating aplenty and knowing that half the neighbourhood would have this yummy treat rotting on the ground in surplus. Oh, my aching heart 😦
Well, we are back! And loving it 🙂
Grateful to enjoy New Zealand’s Fejoa season again.
Goosebumps Down My Spine
Posted on April 20, 2016 6 Comments
He sent a text saying he could be there at ten.
Although it wasn’t an emergency I was grateful.
A piano is an investment that needs to be looked after.
Our piano is not only an investment but for me an emotional attachment. Out first Christmas together as Mr. & Mrs. He was late home with no call. He NEVER did that and my worrying valve was working overtime. Then a few hours late a truck pulls into the driveway and along with a friend…who just happened to own a great music store…my darling dearest jumps out of the truck and starts unloading a beautiful piano. A gift for me!
We’ve carted it round the world on our travels. It’s been on rail, road, ship , 4WD, you name it…It’s been everywhere, man! And though I haven’t been near as diligent over the years as I would have liked, it has been a most treasured gift… a physical manifestation of his love and care for things that matter to me.
Now that we have been back in New Zealand for a couple of years…my, how time flies!… a friend recommended a good piano tuner and today was the day.
And there is nothing sweeter than listening to a piano tuner run his fingers over a perfectly tuned piano…sends goosebumps down my spine.
Grateful.
All Awash
Posted on March 31, 2016 Leave a Comment
The long weekend to celebrate Easter has come and gone. The house is now empty again as everyone has gone back to work. I should also be out in the studio wielding that paintbrush but first I’d just like to get the washing out and drying.
Taking all the cleaned clothes off the lines and putting them in the to-be-folded pile(s) is when I noticed how much washing we had actually done over the weekend. How do we get soo much? I (naively) expected that it would reduce to virtually nothing when the kids left home thus reducing the chore. Apparently not enough…
Over the years he has always said it tongue in cheek. A twinkle in those sky blue eyes teasing kindly as he complimented my ‘gift’. I have no idea how I manage it, and on such a regular basis. Yet, here I am still ‘gifted’… and him steadfastly supporting my ‘gifting’.
I am a blessed woman to have my Darling Dearest help me with hanging out the washing since the day we got married. His gift to me, he said. And this weekend was no exception.
Standing here in the house all empty and quiet, I have a moment to ponder his gift. I find myself all awash with gratitude.
Thank you, my Darling.
The Gift of a Moment
Posted on March 24, 2016 Leave a Comment
I watch my friend as a mother of young children, pre-schoolers and a gorgeous new baby, post in her blog of her desire to be present, not wanting to waste any of these precious newborn days. She’s such a good-hearted mum and I love reading of her journey. You can read her story here.
Only a couple of decades ago I was in her shoes welcoming the third baby into the family…a gorgeous big-eyed daughter, (a fairer version of Ahava), whose smile just captivated our hearts and turned us all upside-down. It seems like just yesterday, yet, here she is home on her university break and wanting to spend time together.
Among all the things I still have to do (might not be scrubbing nappies and picking up toys anymore but the list doesn’t seem to have gotten any smaller) those kids still need me to sit still and just be in the moment with them. They want me to connect with their hearts. to listen to their stories, to laugh and have fun with them. To validate dreams and witness their venture into the big wide world.
That relationship is a gift to both of us. We were designed for community. Designed to belong. It doesn’t go away.
I put down the ‘stuff’ and pick up a pencil to enjoy her as she finishes the chapter in her book.
The gift of a moment
Present.
#Grateful
Watching Clouds Go By
Posted on March 22, 2016 Leave a Comment
Doesn’t that title just just scream of lazy Summer days?
It was exactly that… the gift of a lazy Summer day.
Sitting side by side down at the water’s edge
Away from home and work and responsibilities
An afternoon to catch our breath
To breathe.
Nothing but clouds scudding across the sky in front to entertain us
or the gentle lap of the water as it rolled in and out of the boundaries set.
Moving clouds are difficult to draw
They don’t give you time to concentrate on little sections and accurately put pen to paper
Instead they require undivided attention
To just be in the the moment.
Happily surrendered we watched clouds go by.
Stairway To Heaven
Posted on March 10, 2016 Leave a Comment
Mending Achilles and Cape Palliser are not two things that should automatically go together.
This stairway to Heaven has 250 nearly vertical steps leading to the lighthouse atop a rocky outpost at the southeastern corner of the North Island. New Zealand can boast some very rugged country and this is amongst it. Not hard to see why a lighthouse was needed… still is needed.
During the 19th century there were 20 ships that met a nasty end in and around the Cape. It’s a fascinating place to visit down at the end of the Wairarapa. Though the baby seals having a day in the sun was the best of all. I would travel back there tomorrow to sit and watch them again.
Having come this far it would have been a waste not to have climbed to the top though. Taking a big breath, setting my sights on the top and hanging onto the rail for support against the wind we were off on the stairway to Heaven.
Roast Dinner AGAIN!
Posted on March 8, 2016 Leave a Comment
Senior moments?
Forgetful?
Doing too many things at once?
Who knows…but it wasn’t till after the post had gone up that I realised there was no artwork attached.
All the effort those wonderful kids had gone to cooking us roast dinners, and I had not even included the very grateful empty plate with knife and fork placed correctly according to etiquette rule #203.
So, here you have it…the original blog post … and a grateful drawing 🙂
BON APPETIT!
It’s roast dinner AGAIN!!!!
Lynda Symons Artistry 